MAY 1, 2014     

Something I'd like to tell you about - I'm involved with a group who are building an intentional community in Guelph - a place where we can live in an environment of shared values. If you are interested in such a thing and you'd like to know more about it, please feel free to contact me. 

If you'd like to access past newsletters containing articles on the Big Shift, as well as articles on the Physics of Mysticism, Magic, the Power of Mantra and other topics, please visit the 'newsletter' page of my website: 

 whyislife.com

  by Dennis Gaumond 

Of all of the major religious establishments, the Christian Church based in Rome has been the least tolerant of mystics and mysticism. There are no well-defined examples of Christian mysticism within this religion, and many of the greatest individual Christian mystics are virtually unknown. Some of the more acceptable mystics were canonized by the Church and made into saints and some established monastic orders. Some of them whose views and practices threatened the authority of the Church, such as Giordano Bruno, were put to death.

Some groups tried to break away from the extreme authoritarianism of the Roman Church, but were heavily persecuted. One such group was the Cathars, a mystically oriented community of about 100,000, living in the south of France circa 1200 AD. This entire community was squashed by the Church, with many of its members being put to death. Mystics advocate a direct contact with divinity, with no need for a 'middle man'. The Church felt at they were the intermediaries, the representatives of God on Earth and that all contact had to go through them. The power of the Church hierarchy felt threatened by the free-thinking mystics. Despite the persecution, mystical groups persisted in secret.  

Outside of the jurisdiction of Roman authorities, especially in the first few centuries after Christ, there were several mystical groups such as the Manicheans and the Arians. Probably the most important of these groups were the Gnostics. Centered in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, the Gnostics claimed to follow more closely the true teachings of Jesus. They shared many of the views and practices of eastern mystical groups and the Greek Mystery Schools. Again, this involved a direct 'knowing' of divinity, which they called 'gnosis'. Their methods of achieving gnosis were much the same as those of other traditions, and they had their own forms of mystery school. They were openly opposed to any form of Christian establishment. A Gnostic text called 'the Apocalypse of Peter' quotes Jesus as having said, "Those who name themselves bishop and deacon, as if they had received their authority from God, are in reality waterless canals who do not understand the Mystery; although they boast that the Truth belongs to them alone." Jesus warns that a false Church will lead many astray.

In a Gnostic text called 'On the Origins of the World', the Old Testament God, Yahweh/Jehovah, is portrayed as a false god, obscuring the true nature of divinity from the people. Another text called 'The Testimony of Truth' tells the story of Creation from the serpent's point of view. The serpent is portrayed as the representative of true divinity, guiding Adam and Eve away from the tyranny of Yahweh and leading them to the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. It is interesting that in all cultures other than the Judeo-Christian, the serpent/dragon is a revered symbol that appears again and again in various art forms, insignia, legends, etc.

The Gnostics believed that Jesus was a man, and was the son of God in the same way that we are all children of God. They believed that he came to teach us how to become 'christened', how to become a Christ, how to become enlightened. In the Gnostic 'Gospel of Philip', Jesus says, "You saw the spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the Father, you shall become the father. You see your Self, and what you see you shall become." In the 'Testimony of Truth', Jesus urges his followers to listen to their own hearts and minds; "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you".

It is easy to see how mystical groups like the Gnostics represented a big threat to the growing authority of the Christian Church of Rome. Over the centuries, they were ruthlessly persecuted into oblivion, their books were burned, their philosophies obliterated. Fortunately, many of these writings have recently become available to us once again. Back at the time of the book burnings, someone had the good sense to bury a collection of Gnostic scrolls. In 1945 in a small village in upper Egypt called Nag Hamadi, large clay jars containing these scrolls were uncovered. This collection has come to be known as the Nag Hamadi Library. Much of what these scrolls have to say about the life of Jesus differs greatly from what the Church has been saying.